Diablo Cody's Fempire, Bachmann's backpedaling

Blotter has all the weird local news fit to print

Is Diablo Cody part of a female version of Entourage? Cody and her three lady friends would like to believe it, pegging themselves the "Fempire" in The New York Times. Cute.

The Fempire, which also includes Dana Fox, Liz Meriwether, and Lorene Scafaria, was profiled in that paper. Unfortunately, the story tells the classic storyline of females in a "male-dominated" industry. They're sexy, beautiful, and can you believe it...smart, too!

The piece leads with Cody, during the interview, "struggling to keep her short blue dress from riding up." Great start.

Nick Vlcek

Diablo Cody

We'd like to blame the writer for portraying the ladies as overly sexy, but it's hard to resist when the Fempire spouts quotes like "We've seen each other naked" and describes their limo rides as "super porno and tacky."

The ladies go on to complain about how they feel pressured to look good all the time...more so than their male counterparts. Perhaps using and flaunting your sexuality and stripper days isn't the best way to try to have others focus on your work rather than your body?

We can imagine it's a tough industry in which to make an name for yourself. And maybe playing the sexy card gets you places—just no need to complain about it when it gets you the wrong kind of attention.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Bachmann

Rep. Michele Bachmann is the newest member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Republican Hypocrisy Hall of Fame.

Bachmann was walking high and mighty, pretending she had never taken earmarks. Then we found out she in fact did take earmarks in 2008, and she started back-pedaling—hypocrisy at its best.

"Bachmann condemned the practice of requesting earmarks and called it corrupt, while hiding the truth about the $3.7 million in earmarks she requested in Washington," said Gabby Adler, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

We love you, Michele.

Smile like you mean it

We thought the "smiley face killer" conspiracy had long since disappeared after it blew up in the media almost a year ago. Then-KSTP reporter Kristi Piehl reported on two New York City cops who said there was a connection between the drowning deaths of drunk college men in the Midwest and northeastern United States: a smiley face at the scene of the crime.

Piehl no longer works at KSTP, but it appears she is still investigating this theory as her full-time job. She says there are now close to 70 similar cases reported, and parents are convinced their sons were murdered. They are calling for a federal investigation of the case. ABC's Good Morning America had an interview Monday with Piehl and the father of one of the supposed victims. NBC's Today Show also had a report.

Piehl and the families are gaining connections and furthering the theory at an official SF Killers site. Can a movie deal be far behind?

Life in the Petters zoo

During pretrial hearings last week, Minnesota businessman Tom Petters appeared in court. His attorneys say he is being treated unfairly in jail and is not given the same freedom as others in the clink, including less exercise time.

Give this guy a break! It's not like he is accused of a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme that destroyed lives.

Poor Petters. We're not sure we feel that compelled to speak out about those injustices. Next.

Larry Craig is not alone

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport received top honors in a recent survey. The airport was ranked top North American airport and number three in the world among airports of its size.

The survey, conducted by Airports Council International, ranked 17 airports that served between 25 million and 40 million passengers in 2008. Worldwide, MSP was behind Seoul Incheon Airport and Singapore. Detroit Metropolitan Airport took second place in North America.

Urine rollercoaster

We know KDWB superfans aren't exactly the smartest people in the Twin Cities (trust us, we used to run with that crowd), but what's with the willingness to be tortured for more than 24 hours just to win a prize?

This time the contestants will compete against each other to see who can last the longest on the Nickelodeon Universe Spongebob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge rollercoaster at the Mall of America. Well, we have to admit it sounds better than sitting in a crammed car during the entire Minnesota State Fair in the heat of the summer, as some chose to do in a previous contest. That's just vomit- and rash-inducing.

According to Nickelodeon Universe, the coaster "ascends 90 degrees to the top, plummets at 97 degrees, and goes into an upside-down loop. Riders experience 5G forces and intense twists and turns at 59 mph."

So why the torture? The last person on the ride wins a vacation on the Nickelodeon Family Cruise with Royal Caribbean International, including airfare and $1,000 spending money—a prize package valued at more than $10,000. The winner will also receive a lifetime pass to the MOA park. The other contestants win two annual passes to Nickelodeon Universe, valued at approximately $500, just for trying the stunt.

We were interested in what these folks were going to deal with during the contest. The official rules are pretty hilarious. In short: no sex, drugs, or alcohol allowed. Well, count us out. And if you puke, pee, or shit yourself, it's an automatic disqualification. That's pretty fair.

Among the rules: "No contestant will be allowed to wear diapers or use a 'Motorman's Friend' (a device used by truckers to extract urine from the body). Any person using any devices to extract bodily fluids will be disqualified."